SIX-HOUR STANDOFF ENDS IN ARREST

SIKESTON, Mo. -- A dispute that escalated into a neighborhood shootout and six-hour standoff with Sikeston police ended peacefully late Wednesday.

Ronnie Robinson walked out of an arcade and pool hall pulling up his shirt to show police he had no weapons as black-clad members of the police special response team surrounded him. Robinson lay on his stomach while he was handcuffed near the intersection of Branum Street and Malone Avenue.

His 7:25 p.m. surrender ended several hours of high tension for neighbors and police, who still hadn't found a gun inside the building hours later.

Everlean Brown, secretary of the Scott County NAACP, videotaped the last 40 minutes of the standoff. She knows Robinson and said he was concerned someone had filed false complaints about him with the police.

Robinson was wanted on two misdemeanor warrants, one for assault of an officer, said Drew Juden, director of the Sikeston Department of Public Safety.

There were several calls from the neighborhood to police at about 1:30 p.m., reporting several shots fired in the 100 block of Branum. Although no one was injured, investigators found shells from either an SKS rifle or an AK-47 assault rifle scattered in the street in front of Express Car Wash at 110 Branum St. Bullets struck buildings and a car driving by the area.

A passenger received a minor injury to his arm, Juden said.

"I wouldn't even call it a graze," he said. "The shot hit the door of the vehicle and was slowed down so much that it didn't do anything."

Car wash employee Jesse Worley was in the bathroom when the shooting started.

"I was scared," he said. "I don't know if I'm coming back to work tomorrow."

The shooting lasted for about 10 to 20 seconds, Worley said.

Investigators say more than one person was involved in the shooting, and one of the shooters fired from in front of the arcade, a white building next to the orange-painted car wash and detailing shop.

But Robinson was the only person arrested in the incident by late Wednesday. Investigators continued to look for other possible suspects.

Investigators realized Robinson was holed up in the pool hall just after the shooting, when an officer attempted to open the door and someone inside pushed it shut and began stacking objects to block entry.

Since the arcade has no phone, police tried to get the man to come out by talking to him through a bullhorn. They had no success.

While police waited for a judge to issue a search warrant, officers from the Missouri State Highway Patrol and Scott County Sheriff's Department circled the arcade and car wash. Crowds gathered to watch.

Ending the standoff

When Brown heard about the standoff, she spoke with Scott County NAACP president Anthony Green and decided to find Robinson's brother, Darren Robinson.

"We needed to do whatever we could to resolve this in a peaceful manner," said Brown, secretary for the county NAACP.

Darren Robinson spoke to his brother from a bullhorn, coaxing him out of the building.

"Just come out, dog, for real," Darren Robinson said. "They're going to shoot that T-gas. I don't want to see you get hurt."

Police waiting until they had a search warrant before giving Darren Robinson the bullhorn. Normally, it takes three to four hours to get a search warrant, Juden said, but it took nearly six in this case.

"It's not like on TV," he said. "You can't just call up on the phone and have a warrant. A lot of paperwork has to be completed."

Two Scott County judges were out of town, and another was involved in a jury trial, so police were forced to wait until shortly after 7 p.m. to get the search warrant.